DANE A. VANDERVELDEN
STAFF WRITER
Recent reports from the CSU Chancellor’s office have brought some interesting monetary facts to the table regarding the salaries of the CSU system’s head honchos.
Facebook is undoubtedly one of the most powerful companies on the face of the Earth and in February went public and released the salaries of its employees. Sheryl Sandberg, one of the top executives of this multimedia juggernaut, makes $300,000 annually, stated the initial public offering of Facebook. A hefty sum, but for a top executive of one of the most well-known companies, it may come to us as a surprisingly low amount.
The numbers herein reveal to us that at least six of the CSU system’s top employees make more than Sandberg on an annual basis including the Chancellor, SDSU president and CSULB president. The average CSU president banking in on $300,541 and nine cents stated the Chancellor’s Executive Compensation 2011/2012 report on www.calstate.edu. In addition to that, they also received an extra $60,000 for housing assistance.
Outrage has broken out over these facts from students and other taxpayers alike. The California State University Board of Trustees is the group responsible for setting CSU employee salary, decided to bump up the new president of SDSU’s salary to $400,000.
With tuition and other paid necessities for students skyrocketing in price like the 9 percent tuition increase voted in for the CSUSM 2012/2013 school year, it is hard for any elected ‘board’ or individual to justify these salary hikes. Chancellor Charles Reed took a swipe at it anyways, stating within the report that, “Even in difficult economic times, the CSU(s) must compete on a national level for highly qualified candidates to serve as presidents of its institutions.”
Reed attempted to substantiate the swelling of these individuals’ salaries, but at the end of the day, student’s wallets are emptier than ever, and when students cannot afford school, they can’t attend it. Hopefully the ‘Board of Trustees’ keeps this in mind, when mulling over the potential ramifications of their next act of greed-mongering.